General:

Made rare cards easier to acquire, but increased the number of cards required to upgrade common traps.

Increased skull cost for tier 6 and 7 trap upgrades.

Can we get the actual numbers on these two changes please?

From the Insider Access stream today: ~15% increased cost going from 5 to 6 and 50% increased cost going from 6 to 7. For common traps that's both an increase in trap cards and skulls and for every other trap rarity it's only a skull increase.

Wait, Smolder's Incinerate never did percentage damage and just did pure straight damage? Man, now I gotta run some numbers to see if I need to go back to just being a flamethrower or keep spamming Incinerate.

Cygnus Silver Streak being nerfed is understandable, but it was far too much fun spamming Chain Lightning at enemies while Unchained. Maybe he still can, but I'll need to test the changes for myself. The Experienced weaver getting buffed will definitely help Cygnus on more mobile maps and make it a compelling choice.

Gabby's new Blink trait at level one sounds fun (and gives me a reason to actually use Blink), but it does seem to conflict with the "Heavy Minion Stun" with Kinetic Pulse as both share similar functionalities. In terms of holding people in place, I would pick Scared Stiff over Concussive Strike almost every time.

Stinkeye III looks interesting and more akin to how he played originally (save that his Attack Totem now has a limited duration). I look forward to seeing how he plays, although his stun weaver nerf is saddening, but is expected.

Loving the Fireling change. While I don't know how less damage they will do against Heroes, it is nice to know that heroes won't get swarmed and killed instantly by them anymore (at least I hope that is what happens.)

* * * * *

However, despite the shiny new features, there are still some main complaints that need to be addressed (I'm expecting them to be in the next patch [March] if we are to go by the "2 month feedback to patches," even though these concerns were already expressed by late December).

1. Tier 7 Duplicates. I am still baffled on why this has not yet been properly addressed or even "hotfixed" with a band-aid that temporarily disabling duplicates while a proper solution is researched and eventually implemented. I still dislike the current notion of "going beyond T7" when most players (including myself) are more concerned about the here and now. Stating that it will be fixed Soon™ is meaningless these days.

2. "Limited" Chests - Weekly Challenges, Star Chests, Hero Chests, Login Rewards, and Quest Chests only go so far. I still believe a "Loot Chest" system would work well for replayability and progression. (Loot chests replace Star & Hero chests, but with only one drop for that difficulty. Maybe a little grindy and not shiny or extravagant, but the "KISS" principle is always something to keep in mind.) However, it seems "something" is being done on the front, but there are no actual details on how a possible new system would work.

I also still stand by my statement that later difficulties give out vastly superior rewards compared to lower ones. There is no reason for me to run Apprentice when I can run Rift Lord as it A: Gives me more drops, B: Gives me more "cards," and C: Gives me access to Rift Lord Only items. One-shotting stuff with everything upgraded is a novelty that lasts but 10 minutes, I rather be scaled down so lower level maps are somewhat challenging instead of annihilating them all the time (compare WoW content vs Guild Wars 2 scaling).----------Then there are new "features" that I don't particularly agree with.

2. "Increased skull cost for tier 6 and 7 trap upgrades." - Why? Last I remember, I (and likely some others) am dealing with a skull shortage instead of skull excess, and now upgrading traps are even more expensive? I know there is now an influx of Skulls due to login rewards and daily quests, but even with those I was struggling to keep up with everything. I still have plenty of traps left to upgrade and heroes to purchase. I know OMDU if F2P and one may want to incentivize Skull purchases with Gold, but I rather go about it to "unlock and upgrade that one cool trap" versus "everything so expensive that I need to pay money in order to get anywhere..."

3. "Adjusted hero damage so that they deal slightly less damage when they play a battleground that is higher than the player's account level." - Giving that scaling is already broken in OMDU, I do not trust this change. I tried out Surrounded (Eventide Fortress) Endless at Level 68 (Reccomended is 46-75) and I get wrecked. As far as I am concerned, that map is a Level 100 run. Then, there is running the same map with the exact same loadout and trap placement, but with higher account level is is possible to achieve a 5* rating whereas previously it was impossible.

This will also make matchmaking games far more difficult for pickup groups, especially in the later tiers. "Hey, I just unlocked Master Difficulty, let's play - oh wait I'm doing Shark Island 40-45 instead of Cliffside Class which is 26-32." This difference will also apply greatly in Rift Lord difficulty, and I already stated about the "Master" and "Rift Lord" walls upon first unlocking and playing on those difficulties. This change will only make that hurdle far more difficult to overcome, unless the intention is for players to farm the lower level maps with different heroes before doing the next one.

Developer Comment: We still believe that Bionka design is more
compelling with a slow movement speed. However, we believe
increasing her movement speed and decreasing the knockback of Beat
Dem Back will make her feel better to play without making her too
powerful.

TLDR: Keep unique heroes unique.

I also agree that Bionka should be slow. That is what makes her unique, you need to position yourself well and / or count on speed pads (that will be really cheap now). I already use those speed pads to counter how slow she is.

I've seen a lot of complaints about how she can't give chase to a runner minion without a top tier Speed Pad or extra unchained movement speed trait or weaver and how that can be frustrating, but isn't this the point? To be a behemoth who can kill minions in front of her like nobody else can, but if they do get past her, that is when she is in trouble.

I know 6% isn't that much and you guys are still working on balancing, but I think being slow is what makes her unique. She is one of the strongest heroes if used properly, we just need to know what traps and strategies for her unique play style instead of just "mash buttons, run after minions and win".

Ps: this is my first post here, sorry if something is wrong or out of place.

Adjusted hero damage so that they deal slightly less damage when they
play a battleground that is higher than the player's account level.

Welp, my level 27 friend who has 5-starred everything Master and below will be uninstalling soon. Not only is he 13 levels from being allowed to play maps that he hasn't already 5-starred, but he'll now be punished even more for this game's embarrassing account level design. And since co-op with him was the only reason I still played, GGs all.

Hogarth changes? Maybe hims good now?Midnight rework looks interesting and expectedSecretly I was right about smolder's incinerate all along, wonderful, i hope the new description is very informativeChanging some of my fave traits here, wonder what i'll need to change from here...

Stinkeye's totems were permanent before, how much better will they perform now that they have limited duration? him being able to provide unchained for players at t3 is probably one of the most interesting changes i've seen recently especially with the nerfs to unchained gain in 1.7.

Yay for new parts that actually drop

Speaking of the Big Game Hunting traps, have they been fixed so that they'll all fire at heroes or do only the ballista still work there???

Release 1.8 – Patch Notes

Available February 21, 2017

New Hero:
Temper

Often surprised by his own anger, this usually mild-mannered minotaur
blacksmith now focuses his fiery anger towards defeating the Unchained. One day,
he hopes to return to his dwarven family and his home.

Developer Comment: Rage is a new resource in OMD!U. Like mana, it is
used to fuel abilities, but unlike mana, it is generated by damaging enemies and
decays when heroes are out of combat. For Temper, we feel that rage more
accurately fits our portrayal of him as a misunderstood minotaur who is trying
to refocus his anger issues into something more positive--defeating the
Unchained.

Skills:

Swing! Punch! Smash! (LMB): If used in quick
succession, Temper anvil punches, swings his hammer, and delivers an
uppercut, building his rage.

Exploding Hammer (RMB): Temper throws his hammer. On
impact, it knocks back and damages enemies over time in its radius.

I dont think they will ever fix getting excess cards for fully upgraded traps. They just say its being worked on so you dont quit the game. They let people spend MONEY on chests that give them NOTHING. Take the chests out of the store since they are WORTHLESS. I might spend more money if I could actually get something worthwhile but at this rate I probably won't.

Guardian Reworks:

Rumrudder Guardian: When placed at home, all attacks
cause his enemies to bleed. Scurvy Rumrudder attacks enemies at range with
his parrot, which immobilizes them. Enemies that die near him in his Plunder
aura have an increased chance to drop “booty" (health potions, mana potions,
coin, or Unchained drops).

Jailer Guardian: When placed at home, the Jailer has
significantly increased damage, and his melee attacks have a chance to
instantly execute enemies. While in combat, his Soul Shackle aura adds 20%
lifesteal to allies' primary attacks.

Friar Guardian: When placed at home, his primary
attacks deal arcane damage. His area attacks mesmerize enemies, and while in
combat, his Wiftmaker's Bwessing (no, that's not a typo) aura grants bonus
arcane damage to allies' primary attacks.

Priest Guardian: When placed at home, his attacks
instantly freeze enemies. Players within range of the Priest's Stirring
Benediction are granted increased mana regeneration whether the Priest is in
combat or out.

Stablehand Guardian: When placed at home, his melee and
ranged attacks slow enemies. His area attacks deal much higher than normal
damage, and players within range of the Stablehand's Hoedown aura are
granted a movement speed boost that lingers for 10 seconds outside the aura.

Quartermaster Guardian: When placed at home, all of his
attacks lower the damage of enemies by 50%. While in combat, the
Quartermaster provides a 50% damage bonus to allies within his Morale Boost
aura.

will there be a visible tips in the game when you select guardian or in the guardian section?there was an update on weapon-smith and cook guardian update in patch 1.7. but it is not currently visible in game, as every guardian tips say having an aura (which is not true anymore) and +100% damage while they are at home but nothing about their special skill is being mentioned

I dont think they will ever fix getting excess cards for fully upgraded traps. They just say its being worked on so you dont quit the game.

It's in nobody's best interest for us to simply lie to you about upcoming work. We don't ever just say we're working on something or looking into something as lip service. I don't let people talk about stuff on the shows if it's not actually happening.

It's in nobody's best interest for us to simply lie to you about upcoming work. We don't ever just say we're working on something or looking into something as lip service. I don't let people talk about stuff on the shows if it's not actually happening.

What about the ''future
traps'' traps? I don’t see any t8 upgrade on notes, and also I don’t see
removing this ''future update'' parts issues. This is the reason most people (including
me) quite OMDU after 1.7.http://steamcharts.com/app/427270

edit: also on EU forums they told us that they fix
Leaderboards and Sunday deals, but deals are still broken and instead of fix
the Leaderboards on site, they just remove it -,-

So far i'm looking foward the patch. More endless map Yessss more map yesssssss more hero yesssss some tweaking and guardian rework yessss. Let's say i'm pretty please with this patch. Team keep the good work !

I think overall the patch looks great and I'm excited about it except for two things:- Gates of Thuricvod being toned down. I absolutely love trying to think up new strategies on how to beat it especially on single player. Having more difficult levels makes things interesting because you can't take the "I'll just do what I always do" approach, it makes the player have to be creative. Perhaps there could be something above rift lord with the current difficulty the map has? - Increasing the upgrade to level 7 by 50% The cost is already very high especially relative to skull income.

Suggestions:- Arcane traps except for the Dragon Lance and Bowling Ball seem pretty much worthless.- What is the point of the Steam trap? It seems basically worthless especially since they don't take damage from it. Wouldn't they at least take fall damage? I could see it being useful if it had a lower cooldown. Maybe I'm missing something.- What if chests were also available for skulls? You already have the traps available for purchase in the shop, what if chests are around that cost too? That way people can either buy a chest with a few items or get a specific one. Just an idea.- More Ice and Arcane traps would be nice.- More endless maps. I'm really excited that more endless maps will be coming especially the baths. I love holding off one choke point instead of having to run and deal with many.

Thank you for making such a great game and for evolving it. I really like the comment in the live stream yesterday "now we have a foundation". That is my thinking too with game design and any project, create a foundation and build up. I also really appreciate how the game can be played casually. Have a wonderful day.-Mike

How about increasing the trap limits on maps, some of them seem too low. Since the number of plays has decreased greatly in the last year (http://steamcharts.com/app/427270#All), there must be available server resources to support higher trap counts?

Kind of a bummer there are no new RL maps coming, but the update looks great outside that. Looking forward to running temper through all the Current RL and new Master maps.

That aside I keep missing the live IA streams so I'm just gonna ask here since it never seems to come up. Are there any plans in the works to make trap parts (the ones you equip to traps such as springs/fields/etc) easier to obtain and or deal with. As it currently is, the whole system hampers experimentation and is reliant entirely on RNG. It's possible for people to never obtain the parts they want (unless there's some kind of pity timer I'm unaware of), and if they do fluke out and get it, you have to go through the trouble of moving it around different traps if you want to change up your setup and play with new killbox ideas/traps. I often find myself just using traps with either sub optimal or no parts equipped simply because I know I'd have to re equip them to my main setup afterwards.

One last thing with the guardian reworks and how they're externally perceived. If a Guardians gains a bonus on their home spot in any form, it feels like any other Guardian in that spot is bad. While this new system is less punishing, it will never feel like the player has any real choice in the matter. If you're gonna build on a spot and want a Guardian there, you need that Guardian or you're worse off. The buff system is great and something a lot of players have recommended. The thing is, the system only promotes choice if the unique Guardian buffs can be placed anywhere. In short, even with the improved system, the Guardians still won't feel like a choice, and players will feel penalized for not having lucked out into getting a Guardian drop (wherefore art thou stable boy, why do you elude me after so many chests..).